EAST LANSING– No. 7 Michigan State men’s basketball welcomed first-year Iowa head coach Ben McCollum to the Big Ten with a commanding 71-52 win in the conference opener.
The Spartans improved to 8-0 on the season, their best start since the 2015-16 season.
“I don’t think we’re a finished product, I think we still have a lot of room for growth, which is exciting,” said Spartans head coach Tom Izzo. “We just got to make sure we stay the course.”
The referees made their presence in this game known, not just with high knees, but with 42 fouls called. Being the crafty player he is, redshirt sophomore Jeremy Fears Jr. got to the free throw line a career-high ten times and made all of them.
It was a slow start, with both sides adjusting to Big Ten play, neither team cracked double digits until the 9:52 mark in the first half.
Newly hired football head coach Pat Fitzgerald was welcomed to Michigan State during a timeout in the first half and was met by cheers from the Breslin faithful.
“What you saw on the court during the timeout, I told him to quit screwing up my huddle, the place was rocking and rolling, I couldn’t hear in that damn huddle,” Izzo said.
The Spartans subsequently went on run for the remainder of the first half, taking a 14-point lead over the Hawkeyes.
Hawkeyes star guard Bennett Stirtz was shut down by the Spartans. Stirz has followed McCollum’s journey over the past three seasons, from Division II Northeast Missouri St. to Drake and now at Iowa. In his first game under the bright lights in a tough road atmosphere, the guard, averaging 18 points on impressive efficiency, was held to 14 points on 40 percent shooting.
The Spartans dominated the glass, snatching 20 more rebounds than the Hawkeyes. Senior forward Jaxon Kohler was the Spartans’ leading rebounder, he collected 11 en route to another double-double.
Junior forward Coen Carr tied his career-high with 15 points, including a few of his usual highlight-reel finishes at the basket. Carr’s scoring outburst was on only eight shots, as he controlled the half court offense at times.
Freshman forward Cam Ward entered Tuesday’s contest as questionable after he sustained a wrist sprain during the Florida swing. Ward did not make an appearance against the Hawkeyes.
The Spartans 19-point margin of victory is impressive given the continued three-point shooting woes, as they were only 3-for-12 from distance.
There was also new branding on the court of the Breslin Center. The “For Sparta” campaign announced by Michigan State athletics on Tuesday has three locations on the court and there was also a video featuring Spartans’ legend Magic Johnson that played a video on the jumbotron.
The long awaited matchup against the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils is set for Saturday, Dec. 7 at 12 p.m. Catch the broadcast live from the Breslin Center with Joe Dez and Jack Stager on the call.
